O'Bannon Litigation Court Filings

(Note: click on the graph if you want it to appear larger.)

The O'Bannon v NCAA case (officially "In Re: Student-Athlete Name & Likeness Licensing") was filed in May of 2009. Since that time, there have been more than 1,090 court filings in this case. The graph was produced by one of the nation's leading sports economists, and Sports Law Blog honorary expert economist, Andy Schwarz (@andyhre).

You'll note the volume increases when Keller & O'Bannon were being consolidated, during class certification motions, discovery fights, summary judgment filings, and finally leading up to the hearing and opinion.

One interesting fact, merits reports on liability and damages were exchanged but not filed with the Court and thus the actual volume is actually more substantial than this graph indicates for the months of September and November of 2013. Similarly, because of how pacer reports multiple-exhibit documents, the chart tends to understate the sheer volume of paper filed in the peak months when 10-plus exhibits can be the norm.

To be clear, this is a messy case relative to multiple plaintiffs, consolidation efforts, and the class certification process. However, it also speaks volumes as to the incredible investments--both by the plaintiffs and defendants--of both time, effort and money. Additionally, the case is no where near concluding. In the future, law schools may be able to teach civil procedure, constitutional law, rights of publicity, antitrust law, and labor law all by examining this case.